BREATHING AIR TESTING
‘Employers have a duty of care to ensure that the breathing air they supply to their employees is safe to breathe, breathing air testing is necessary at regular intervals’

Many companies use their compressed air system for breathing air. Breathing air is usually necessary when staff are working in hostile environments (such as paint shops).

Air supplied by a standard air compressor is not of a quality required for breathing air.

It is normally necessary to include  additional filtration to the air line in order to get air of the correct quality.  The specified standard for breathable air is BS EN12021: 2014 ‘Respiratory protective devices Compressed gasses for breathing apparatus’

Extract from BS EN12021 – Clause 6

‘Compressed gas for breathing shall not contain contaminants at a concentration which can cause toxic or harmful effects. In any event, all contaminants shall be kept as low as possible and shall be less than one tenth of a national 8h exposure limit’.